Kinsey had managed to get the entire party to leave. Logan hid in the backyard until everyone was gone. He began to worry when Harvest said she'd meet him out there but never did. When Tyler stuck his head out of the door, calling out to him, the boy creeped from behind a tree. "He's gone?"

Tyler waved him in, Logan hurrying inside. "Is she-"

He stopped when he heard the cries from upstairs. She'd never been much of a cryer either, which made it so much harder to hear. He saw her cry when he almost died and the time they got trapped in the crave. His eyes traveled up the stairs, looking to Tyler. "Gabe did something to her?"

Tyler exhaled. "Scots got her right now. It's bad."

"What happened?" Logan gave an alarming look. He'd always known something was off about Gabe, he always knew he seemed so forced, so just there and so sketchy all the time. But what could be so bad to have Harvest Locke, the toughest person he'd ever known, sobbing like she was now.

"Dodge is Gabe." Tyler spoke. And that was something he didn't expect at all, not even in the slightest. "She found something, a memory in Eden's head. He isn't real."

The doorbell rung before anyone could move.

"Harvey!" Gabes voice rung from the other side.

"He shouldn't see you." Tyler turned to Logan quickly. "He tried to kill you once, he'll do it again."

It was clear he'd been angry, Gabe so close that he could lay a good punch into his nose, so badly did he want it. "Maybe it'll be worth it if I can just hit him again."

Tyler gave a knowing look. "Let me handle this."

Logan looked up the stairs again. "What do I do to fix this for her?"

Because in the long run, she was more important then hurting Gabe, no matter how badly he wanted to. How to fix her, how to make it less painful for her. Harvest. What could he do to help her? Keep her safe? Protect her? Make it all better?

"There's nothing any of us can do." Tyler's words made his heart sink. What was he if he couldn't fix something? She'd always been the one to help him, make him feel better. When his anxiety got bad after the accident, having the horrible nightmares, she'd taught him how to get a hold of it better, a way of not feeling so out of touch with his body. Now, when it was his turn to help her, he couldn't? How was it fair? How could he just sit here and let her hurt?

Logan went up the stairs. She wasn't crying anymore, clearly the knock at the door making her stop. The hallway was empty, he walked until he reached her room. End of the hallway, the only one with a balcony. Scot sat on her bed, her back facing them but her shoulders shook slightly. Red hair was sprawled out across the pillows, her black shirt almost blending in with the dark brown sheets.

"Harvey." Logan spoke softly as he walked into the room. Scot looked over when he saw him walk in. It was clear he'd been trying to help, staying with with her while Kinsey and Duncan were in the other room, Tyler down stairs with Gabe. Logan sat down behind her, pressing a hand into her shoulder softly. "Hey."

What could be say to her to make it right? It will be okay? It wouldn't. He's a dick? He is, but that wasn't the right thing to say right now. I'm so sorry? She didn't want anyone to say sorry, she wanted her boyfriend not to be a demon that tried to murder her and her entire family.

"I'm here for you." he promised her, being sure not to pressure her to talk or roll over, but kept a hand pressed to her arm so she knew he was there. At least he was real, at least he wasn't the one to try and kill her, use her, lie to her, manipulate her, gaslight her. He was real, and he was here. Not for information, not for the keys, not to get close to the family. Logan was just there. There for her.

She turned over and sat up quickly. It alarmed them both when she did so, moving way too quick for someone that looked dead to the world. Her face was puffy, red, stained of tears, her eyes barley even noticeable from how puffy they were. No one said anything as she put her arms around Logan, hugging him with silent cries into his neck. He rubbed her back softly. Scot wondered if it would be worse if he joined the hug, probably so, but he decided she'd need all the comfort she needed now. Moving over, the trio hugged tightly.

Her friends, her real friends. They didn't hurt her, they didn't pretend to love her, they weren't the monsters. They did love her, they wouldn't hurt her, they'd protect her. They were real, it was real. She had to remind herself. Gabe was not real, his love for her wasn't real, nothing he'd ever done or said was real.

That's why, from that day forward and probably for the rest of her life, Harvest Locke couldn't begin to understand what was real and what wasn't.

She had to go to Winterfest.

It took all her might to even get out of bed, to manage to not look in the mirror and call herself stupid over and over. Putting on clothes was the worst, because she didn't even wanna move. So many thoughts hitting her all at once, swarming in her head and not even being able to think of anything else. But most importantly, she thought of how dumb she was. How stupid. How could she miss the signs, how could she never suspect him, how could she miss this?

Logan picked her up, having to get to their tent early. The pair planned a tent to sale Harvests books a few months ago, thinking it had been the perfect opportunity to shine a light on her, finally have people read the brilliant work. She stared as Ross and Ruby set the copies of the books up. Forty in total, all sat under a shielded tent and on small book shelves. The husbands began to worry at the sight of her.

First, they're son was having nightmares and developed PTSD. Now, his best friend, seemed to be frozen in shock. Logan saw the looks on their faces, approached Harvest with a hand on her shoulder. "Here."

She turned, watching as he took a pair of red earmuffs from the back of the van and placed them on her ears perfectly. "The winds terrible."

"Thanks." she mumbled, fixing them on her head slightly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry." he stopped her. "Non of this is your fault."

She scoffed, he gave her a questionable look. "How can you say that?"

"Because it's not." the blonde shook his head.

"I was the one closest to him, I should have known." she spoke quickly with a point to herself. "I was stupid."

"You're not stupid." Logan argued with a look of disbelief on his face. "Non of us knew. It was impossible to. He's clever, and he manipulated every single one of us. Non of this is on you. Non of it."

Her blue eyes looked brighter in the white snow. "Then why does it feel that way?"

What could he say to that? How could he give her an answer when he felt the same. "After the accident, I did what you did. I thought I was stupid for getting into the car, for not grabbing the wheel, for not doing anything."

"It wasn't your fault." she spoke as a habit. Logan rose an eyebrow and she realized what she was doing. Her face fell again. "I see what you did there."

"It's hard, I know. And I know you don't like talking about your emotions a lot, because you have to play the tough guy all the time." Logan spoke, because he knew her, too well. "But you don't always have to be the muscle. You can talk, say whatever you want to. You can even cry and I'll find you some ice to throw if that helps."

Unexpectedly, he pulled a small grin from her and it made him do the same. "We're gonna end this, you know? It won't make it easier but it will help you."

"He's gonna go after you again." she spoke knowingly. Gabe nearly killing Logan was one of the top things that replayed in her head all night long. He'd do it again, he'd take out anyone in the way. And Logan certainly was in the way of what he wanted most. Not Harvest, definitely not her. But her heritage, her blood, her ability she needed to find in order to make the keys. He needed that, not her. Gabe didn't care about her, if she'd been a local girl without Locke blood, he'd barley bat an eye her way.

"I don't care." he said back honestly. "I'm not gonna back out of this. You said if yourself. Our Japanese symbol!"

He brought another grin to her lips, making her nod her head. "I wanna end it."

"Then we will." he promised.

•

kylie speaks

sooooooo, i made the
bold decision to go ahead
and binge wright the rest
of this book last night so
expect two to three updates
a day from now on lmao.